Kendra Stanley of City Bag Trade

With many cities following in San Francisco's footprint of banning plastic bags, clever entrepreneurs are creating fashionable alternatives. One of the most recent eco-friendly entrepreneurs in this market is Kendra Stanley. She carefully crafts bags using old rain jackets. So not only is the bag a hip and recycled product, it is water proof! You can order a pre-made jacket from her or send her your old rain jacket and she will custom make your bag. If you can sew, you can download her pattern from her site and make your own!

Magazines Go Green This Month

Vanity Fair comes out with their third annual "Green Issue". In addition, there are a number of other paper mags doing their best green impressions, too. Here are a few:

• Outside's green issue features a cover story on Jack Johnson, advice on green gear, and a list of eco-getaways.
• This month, Metropolitan Home focuses on an eco-renovation, a brother-duo doing green design, and a photo slideshow of green products.
• Music mag Billboard has an upcoming green issue that will feature a spotlight on 10 green artists/bands [PDF]. (Uh, been there, done that!)
• Dwell magazine is also, um, dwelling on green issues with features on modern wood homes and a renovated barn.
• The March issue of Sunset has features on green couples in Portland, Ore., and decorating with secondhand finds, as well as an ongoing blog called the one-block diet.
• Even Delta Airlines' in-flight mag has gone green (ironic?) with a cover mentioning Earth Hour and contents that include a piece on the Bengal tiger and brief "postcards" from places (Louisiana coast, Upper Mississippi River, S.F. Bay) where environmental restoration is finding success.

No More Tangled Cords for iPod Users - Welcome the budcozy

Budcozy is a hand crafted accessory that slides over your iPod and iPhone earbud cords to keep them from getting tangled up.

Made from all natural fibers like hemp, bamboo and organic cotton when possible, budcozys are manufactured in San Francisco. Cute, stylish and affordable at $15 each, it's a great gift for yourself or that iPod user in your family.

Tee Shirts for a Cause

I'm a member of Green Dimes (an organization which helps reduce paper junk mail) and just received a very cool promo from Tonic Generation, a site offering 4 limited edition tee shirts, made from bamboo and organic cotton, that each support a specific cause. For example, if you buy the tree tee, the organization plants 25 trees in North America....or the net tee and they send three bed nets to sub-Sahara Africa to combat malaria. I purchased the school tee which will fund a year's education for three children in India. They are $45 each and make a great gift for that eco-conscious person in your life. For more info, go to: http://www.tonigen.com/